Trials Together One Shots
by msnoname24
Summary: Missing scenes from my Trials Together Stories from the perspectives of other characters, where I think it will help with the story overall or just wanted to fill in some gaps. Please read and review. These are probably going to be in a serious mess of an order.
1. Chapter 10: Rachel

**Rachel**

She tried to reach for Thomas as he jumped through the closing doors, pulling her arm back at the last second to stop it being crushed. Why did her friend have to be such an idiot? First he pissed off Alby by running about the Homestead when he wasn't supposed to, then he broke the Number One Rule. If he survived the Maze he might not survive her.

 _Thomas, I swear that is the stupidest thing I ever saw._ Rachel hissed through their telepathy, she didn't know where it came from or how she had figured it out but it was useful.

 _Sorry, I'll make sure to get your permission next time._ Thomas replied after a moment, Rachel sent a sigh through the bond, even at times like this she enjoyed experimenting with it.

 _Let's just hope there is a next time._ There was silence from the other end of the link.

"Best go get some dinner stick." Rachel wasn't sure when Sonya had appeared. "I'm sorry, but he ain't ever comin' back."

"I'm staying here, till morning." Rachel told the other girl, not knowing her decision until the words left her mouth but she was going to stick to it. She wouldn't give up on Thomas because she knew there was no way he'd give up on her.

"Suit yourself." The blonde girl stalked off to the Homestead.

The only other person left was Chuck, it was odd that Flo wasn't with him, she certainly liked both of them. Rachel had heard that Boxmates, as they were called, always stayed close in the Glade.

"Go to bed." She tried to sound reassuring and probably failed. "I'm only staying here to give Tom a right telling off when he drags himself back here tomorrow." Rachel didn't know where the nickname came from, or her resolve that that was exactly what she would do.

"Okay." Chuck gave her a long faltering look before walking off to their sleeping spot. Rachel was alone, entirely, her best friend in this strange place trapped in a death trap with monstrous killing machines.

 _What are you doing in there? Everyone's telling me there's no hope for you._ But I'm not giving up till I see a body, Rachel added to herself, praying for a reply.

 _Minho bolted, Alby's nearly dead._ Thomas's response was fractured, as if he was thinking hard at the same time.

 _I'm going to tie Alby into the vines over the door, then try to keep myself alive._ It was a plan, probably the best option. For a moment Rachel wished she was on the other side of the wall with Thomas, rather than trapped in the safety of the Glade whilst he had to run from Grievers.

 _Good plan and good luck, I'm camping outside this door to see if you come back._ She wanted Thomas to know that she would be there, whatever transpired that night.

 _See you in the morning._ Rachel could tell that the conversations would be over for some time, Thomas would have to focus on saving Alby and himself, there would be no time to talk.

Rachel didn't know how long she sat, her back to the cold stone wall. After some time she was startled by footsteps and stood annoyed, both at herself for having almost fallen asleep and whoever had come to bother her. Squinting through the darkness she recognised Gally, well that was just great.

"Staying up for your boyfriend?" Rachel wasn't going to deign to give him a response, at least not a verbal one.

"Maybe you'll get to bury him, if there's anything left, they might give you a day off to grieve."

Rachel hated Gally, hated him like she couldn't remember hating anyone ever.

"You listening to me stick?" His ugly face and rotten breath only inches away from hers.

Rachel stepped forward, this made Gally laugh for some idiotic reason.

He wasn't laughing a second later when she took advantage of his self distraction to punch him in the nose.

Bone broke under her fingers and red blood ran over her hand. Gally called her something that sounded like 'ducking witch' as he staggered away. Rachel smiled to herself and sat back against the wall to keep her vigil.

In the morning Rachel was woken by the Doors opening, someone had thrown a blanket over her in the night. Her limbs felt very stiff from having slept against the stone wall.

There was no sign of Thomas, Minho or Alby, Rachel wanted to run in but remembered the rules, it could hardly help. They were either dead or alive and nothing she did now could change that.

She hadn't been standing long when two figures appeared turning around the corner, breathing hard and exhausted. Carrying a third between them.

It was now obvious who it was, Rachel felt elated, Thomas was alive, she wouldn't end up alone in this place forever.

Thomas and Minho placed Alby on the ground and stood, dazed, as boys and girls pelted them with questions and a small group carried Alby off to the Homestead. Minho followed. Most of the Gladers cleared off to jobs when Harriet shouted that they'd better or there wouldn't be any breaks till lunch. Her and Alby seemed determined to make sure the Glade kept running, no matter what.

Once the last stragglers had left, Rachel approached Thomas, his eyes were unfocused, hardly even seeing her. She remembered some old advice and slapped him on the cheek. His vision focused on her immediately, that did work.

"Come on Rach, what was that for?" It was a nickname that no one had yet used for Rachel, but somehow she didn't mind. It was just like how she had involuntarily called him Tom the night before.

"For being a shucking idiot." Rachel wrapped her arms around her friend and they hugged for a long moment, it was the greatest comfort Rachel had felt since waking up in the Box.

"Please never do that again." She said when they finally let go. "I don't want to be alone here."

 **A/N: This is an idea I had to write some 'missing scenes' from the perspective of other characters. Please tell me if you think it's any good. Expect the next chapter for the main part of Trials Together by Wednesday evening.**


	2. Chapter 12: Harriet

Harriet was having one of the worst days she had ever had, and that was seriously saying something. Everyone going on and on about Thomas, half of them wanting him to even be the new leader, and half wanting him killed for breaking the number one rule.

If one more person came up to her about Thomas, well, she might punch them.

"Sonya, we're calling a Gathering." Harriet announced, slumping on the bench beside her best friend. "Tell Newt and the other Keepers. We're figuring out what to do with this Greenie before I murder someone."

With Alby going through the Changing Harriet was entirely in charge, some people did have a hard time getting that she was on the same link in the command chain as he was, but Harriet honestly didn't care. When push came to shove they knew to listen to her.

"And make sure Gally hears it through Beth." The two Keepers of the Builders were not exactly Harriet's favourite people, but Gally had always been the worst, even before he got Stung. Beth was the only person he had ever been even remotely nice to, and she stopped him going too far. That was how it often worked, the Creators had done well pairing what they had come to call Boxmates. They had similar personalities and aptitudes but one was always calmer, more grounded.

In the case of Harriet and Alby Harriet knew it was definitely her. Alby had admitted it many times. For Sonya and Newt it was Newt. For Miyoko and Minho it was Miyoko, but Beth being a counterweight to Gally was the most pronounced example Harriet had ever known in the Glade.

She also knew that Gally had confided in Beth, and only Beth, what he had really seen during the Changing.

A few hours later they had decided the Gathering would be held first thing the next morning, Harriet sent the stick Greenie, Rachel, to tell Thomas, she seemed to be the calmer one out of the two, but it was very early to tell.

* * *

The next day was far worse than the previous one.

Harriet discovered that the news had only gotten to half the Keepers, so she had to skip breakfast rounding them up and checking off all the names on the list she kept in the Gathering room, the names had been carved on the wall, but the checks were made with chalk.

 _Leaders: Alby and Harriet._ Here _Nick and Ximena_ had been struck through, Harriet didn't want to think about that day.

 _Seconds: Newt and Sonya._

 _Runners: Minho and Miyoko._

 _Slicers: Winston and Qian._

 _Cooks: Frypan and Jane._

 _Builders: Beth and Gally._

 _Medis: Clint and Emme._

This went on through all twelve pairs of Keepers. Harriet looked around, everyone was in their chairs. Success!

Thomas stumbled in after a minute, during which Harriet contemplated murder, calling off the Gathering, and locking him in the Slammer.

"So, we are here to discuss this Greenie shank," She pointed at Thomas, "who managed to survive a night in the Maze, save Alby and kill four Grievers. The only problem is, he broke our number one rule: only runners are allowed in the Maze." The formal recitation finished there, hell was about to be unleashed.

"He's not the Greenbean, he's just a rule breaker." Gally glared around the room, Beth punched him. Harriet had hoped he would at least count to three.

"Shuck off Beth." Gally rubbed at his upper arm.

"Slim it the both of you." Sonya met Harriet's eyes, she looked just as stressed.

Harriet rolled her eyes. Why, why did she have to deal with this? When Alby recovered she was going to make him pull his weight to make up for this.

"We'll start with the track-hoes then," she pointed to the far right. "Zart, Charlotte, what do you think?" The two of them were quiet, kind and calm, their thoughts should delay the inevitable verbal battle.

"Well," Zart began. "I don't know. He broke one of our most important rules. We can't just let people think that's okay." He paused and looked down at his hands, rubbing them together. "But then again, he's … changed things. Now we know we can survive out there, and that we can beat the Grievers."  
"We might be nearer to getting out then we've ever been before." Charlotte finished, Harriet smiled at her, knowing she had made a good choice there.

"I bet it was all Minho." Gally snorted.  
"Shut the hell up or I'll throw you out the door." Newt growled at him, Beth had put her head in her hands, Harriet almost pitied her. The stick wasn't half bad, she'd just got a rum deal of a Boxmate, and someone had to handle him.

"I swear I will string up the next one of you who talks out of turn." Harriet meant it, and everyone in this room knew full well that she could tie a functioning noose.

"Cooks."

"Shank's got more guts than I've fried up from every pig and cow in the last year." Frypan's joke was stupid, but at least he tried.

"How stupid is this—he saves Alby's life, kills a couple of Grievers, and we're sitting here yappin' about what to do with him. As Chuck would say, this is a pile of klunk." The boy finished, but Harriet knew the pair weren't done.

"I recommend we put him on our Council, so he can teach us what he did out there." Jane's comment was not unexpected, nor was the reaction. Harriet had to remind herself that punching walls led to a broken hand and a month of pain.

Most of the Keepers were in Thomas's favour, thinking it was stupid to punish him for saving someone's life. Winston thought that he should be punished to keep order but didn't think that he had been wrong. Soon it came to Beth and Gally's turn, Beth gave Harriet an apologetic look, not even trying to stop Gally's rage.

Gally thought both Greenies were spies for the Creators, Harriet was mentally running through the procedure to have him formally replaced, but she'd keep Beth. The girl agreed on punishment but was not as brutal. Gally continued ranting until she stood up. Harriet had to hide her smile, she knew what was coming next.

"Come, on, outside." Beth spoke like a mother would to a child throwing a tantrum, grabbing Gally by the shirt and pulling him out the door, cursing and struggling.

This happened in at least half of the meetings Gally was in since he had been Stung, Beth wouldn't be coming back, and Gally would be fuming for at least a week.

"I love it when she does that." Harriet struggled to hold back her laughter, a glance around the room showed she wasn't alone. It was often the only even vaguely enjoyable part of Gatherings.

"Hmm, Beth recommends punishment," Newt wrote on the Records Pad, "Gally is being a shuckface as usual."

Minho recommended that Thomas should replace him as Keeper of the Runners, because he had been braver than him. Miyoko agreed. Harriet was very glad Gally had already been removed.

Everyone was screaming at once, Harriet felt her last nerve snap almost audibly.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT IT NOW!" She screamed. "I swear I will suspend the lot of you and look for replacements." Harriet kept a private list, since Nick and Ximena had died all meetings had gone like this, and she was sick of it, when Alby was around it was a little better but not much.

The Greenie put his hand up, Harriet was officially past caring.

"Slim it all of you, the Greenie wants to speak up for himself and this meeting can't get any more shucked, so we might as well let him." Newt had obviously noticed and stepped up. Good.

"I don't know why Gally hates me. I don't care. He seems psychotic to me. As for who I really am, you all know just as much as I do. But if I remember correctly, we're here because of what I did out in the Maze, not because some idiot thinks I'm evil."

"He makes a good point," Miyoko spoke up for the first time. "Let's just vote and get this over with."  
"We can't vote without all members…" Winston started to protest.  
"Gally's being psycho, Alby's been stung by a Griever and Beth is preventing Gally from committing murder. Cast your votes." Harriet was going to need some aspirin after this, and a lie down. Not that she would get either, of course, she would just get a foul mood.

"Here's my recommendation," Newt said, ignoring both Harriet and Sonya glaring at him. "Thomas broke our bloody Number One Rule, so he gets one day in the Slammer as punishment. I also recommend we elect him as a Runner, effective the second this meeting's over. You've proven more in one night than most trainees do in weeks. As for you being the buggin' Keeper, forget it." He looked over at Minho. "Stupid idea."

Everyone cast their votes, the majority agreed with Newt, Thomas was going to be a runner,  
Harriet was glad everything was calming down. But that might be premature wishful thinking.

"Can I ask something of you?" Thomas tested the waters, everyone seemed much calmer now.  
"What, Greenie?" Harriet looked up from the notes Newt had been scribbling, his handwriting was klunk.

"Rachel, the girl who came with me, she gets to be a runner too." Harriet couldn't believe his gall, but if the two crazy Greenies were spending all day in the Maze and out of her hair then she honestly didn't care.  
Minho broke the silence, "fine by me, as long as she can keep up."  
"We are having a talk about authority later." Harriet looked from Newt to Sonya to Minho to Miyoko. They couldn't just decide what was happening without her say, but they would know her words were hollow.

"Greenie, go with Minho, the rest of you get to work."

Everyone left and Harriet slumped in her chair, her peace lasted exactly forty-three seconds until Sonya ran in to fetch her.

* * *

 **A/N: I know people have requested other characters but I wanted to read this scene so here it is. If you want me to do a POV please also request when in the story or it may not happen.**


	3. Chapter 22: Sonya

Sonya hadn't run the Maze, properly run it, in nearly a year, but she still remembered what to do, and she loved it. What she wasn't used to was running on her own. When Newt had 'fallen running from Grievers' she had given it up, resolving to keep an eye on him and help Harriet. Of course she hadn't been the Second then, that had been Harriet. It was only a month since Nick and Ximena had died and Sonya still saw that day as the beginning of the end.

The walls hadn't changed at all, and Sonya's pack was heavy on her back, she would return at nightfall. Alby was still out of commission and with Newt helping with the Maps there was no one to help Harriet. Even though Sonya did love her best friend she knew she was very susceptible to stress and given the current situation in the Glade could end up breaking someone's neck, or her own hand. Again.

It was harder to run, having lost the practice, but Sonya and Newt had been the best of the Runners. Minho and Miyoko had only become Keepers after Newt's fall. His fall, the memories flooded back into Sonya's mind no matter how hard she tried to shove them out. When she ran her mind wandered.

* * *

(Flashback)

 _"Where's Newt?" Sonya asked Harriet, she hadn't been able to find him at all, and she had searched the whole Glade._

 _"He ran out into the Maze, thought you were with him." The other girl gave Sonya a quizzical look._

 _"No, we weren't running today." Sonya was filled with an inexplicable dread, Newt hadn't been quite right as of late, and he wouldn't ever go into the Maze without her._

 _Despite not having running shoes, or anything else, Sonya bolted through the nearest door into the Maze. Something was wrong, very wrong._

 _They usually ran Section Five, so that was where she went, it would be empty, and if Newt was trying to hide in the Maze he would go there. The sun crossed the sky seemingly faster than normal, as if mocking her._

 _She was probably overreacting, Sonya thought, she'd ran most of the Section and it was time to leave, before nightfall._

 _She turned the corner to the final dead end, and the sight she found made her stop so abruptly she almost fell._

 _Newt. Lying on the floor of the corridor, completely still, his leg bent at an angle that was simply wrong. And the ivy, pulled and knotted together, he had climbed it, even though he had been the one to propose the rule that no one should climb the walls any more to prevent injury, it was pointless anyway._

 _He had tried to kill himself, it was the only conclusion Sonya's mind could give her. She sprinted to him, he was breathing, and the only injury seemed to be his leg, quite miraculously. It was a half hour run back to the Glade, and two hours until the doors shut, but even considering that Sonya didn't know how she could get Newt back to the Glade in time, he was nearly twice her size._

 _"Newt! Sonya!" It was Alby, Sonya didn't care why he was here, she cared that he could help._

 _"Here!" Sonya shouted, hearing Alby's footsteps come closer._

 _"The shuck happened?" His voice was full of shock, she watched it turn to horror as he took in the details she had._

 _They didn't speak further, didn't need to. Alby pulled Newt to a standing position and looped the boy's arm over his shoulder, Sonya took the other side._

 _They couldn't run, but they kept a decent pace, Sonya's legs burned and her arms were numb._

 _Harriet was there when they returned to the Glade, the medis too, they took Newt and Alby sank to his knees on the grass, Sonya felt tears wet her cheeks. Now the danger was gone all the emotion hit at once, Newt, who she had been closest to since waking up a year ago, lying on the grass of the Glade. He had tried to kill himself, and she'd hardly noticed anything was wrong._

 _Harriet was knelt next to Alby, a hand on his shoulder, she turned to Sonya and extended her other hand. Sonya took it, sitting cross-legged beside them. Harriet put one arm around her and the other around Alby. They stayed like that for a long, long time._

* * *

Back in the present Sonya stopped running, that had been the worst day of her life. They had tried, all of them, Sonya most of all, but Newt had never been the same. His limp a constant reminder. A glance at her watch revealed that it was time to head back to the Glade.

* * *

 **A/N: People have requested Sonya and this is what I came up with. Sorry for how depressing it is. Feel free to review with any other characters and ideas of when in the story, it can be before or during The Maze Runner but not after or The Fever Code yet.**


	4. Nick and Ximena's Deaths: Alby

This chapter is set just before Thomas and Rachel arrived and explores what happened to Nick and Ximena, leaders before Harriet and Alby. I'm going to do chapter 23 of the main story from Rachel's POV, I'm avoiding using Aris and Teresa's for a while.

 **Alby**

Running the Glade wasn't actually that hard to do, everyone was working hard and few had noticed that Nick and Ximena weren't around. Alby and Harriet had been left in charge, they were the seconds anyway. Nick and Ximena had gone to investigate the Cliff, Hank thought he had seen something odd there and anything odd in the Maze had to be investigated, it could be the way out. There had been so many times they thought they had found something that Alby wasn't hopeful.

"A bit late for them not to be back." Sonya remarked, pushing her hair out of her face. Alby could tell what she was thinking, the day they had found Newt, after he had jumped off the wall. Sonya had given up being a Runner for him, and never complained.

Alby didn't have time to answer before he heard Harriet yell from by the East Doors, sprinting towards the sound.

Harriet had obeyed the rule not to go into the Maze, but obviously wanted to, two figures were making their way down the corridor, towards the Glade. One leant heavily on the other but both looked injured, in the darkening evening light it was impossible to tell which was which. Alby's mind screamed for him to help but he didn't, they would be back in time, and breaking whatever rhythm they had wouldn't be helpful.

The two figures got closer, and Alby could see that it was Ximena supporting Nick, who was unconscious, there was a terrifying amount of blood on both their clothes.

The pair stumbled to the Doors and Alby instinctively moved to take Nick, he didn't seem to have been Stung, just attacked, which Grievers had been known to do on occasion.

A small crowd had gathered and Alby was aware of Harriet shouting for someone to get the Medis, having lowered Ximena onto the grass. She was in a bad way but not as bad as Nick, who Alby doubted would even live. Knowing them well he would guess that Nick had put himself in the path of the Griever to protect Ximena, it was the sort of thing he would do for anyone.

The Medis were there quickly, helping Alby and Harriet carry them up to the Med Room in the Homestead. Alby wanted to stay and watch what happened to his friends but Harriet pulled him away, saying they needed to have dinner and change out of their now bloody clothes. He didn't know what he'd do without her, always calmer and stopping him from doing anything too stupid. Harriet was also great at providing comfort, Alby knew, remembering how she had held him and Sonya after Newt's 'accident'.

That night Alby couldn't sleep, sitting on the floor of his room in the Homestead. Around midnight Harriet came in, she didn't say anything, just sat beside him and let him cry on her shoulder. What had he done to deserve her?

* * *

Neither Nick or Ximena had been stung, just attacked with every other appendage the Grievers had in their arsenal. Nick was certainly the worst off, and despite having lied through his teeth to the rest of the Glade, Clint told Alby without hesitation that it was very unlikely that he would survive. He had lost a significant amount of blood, and had some nasty internal injuries, something about a crushed spleen.

But he did say that it wasn't impossible, and there was still hope for Ximena, Nick was comatose but she was awake, talking. It was quite likely that she would recover.

* * *

Nick died a week later, they buried him in the Deadheads, carving his name onto a piece of wood. Alby cried shamelessly, so many died who didn't deserve it. He had long ago resolved to keep attachments to a minimum, he was closest to Harriet, followed by Newt, Nick, Minho, Sonya, Ximena. Those were the only people Alby had allowed himself to care about at all, he had never really managed to get on with Miyoko, not that he disliked her.

Ximena took a turn for the worst after that, an infection that they had thought minor suddenly rearing up with a vengeance. When Alby asked the Medis he was told it was blood poisoning, something they did not have the facilities to treat. He wrote a note and put it in the Box, begging for antibiotics to treat sepsis.

Nothing came, and Alby hated the Creators more than he already did, much more, which he wouldn't have thought possible. They would let a girl die, when they could so easily have saved her.

Alby and Harriet had now taken on the Leader roles, and Alby had appointed Newt as Second. He hoped that they didn't have to appoint Sonya.

* * *

Ximena fought the infection with all the strength she had, which was a considerable amount, and the Medis tried everything. Everything they had tried on infections before, everything they knew wouldn't help Nick, some things they had never tried before.

Most would have died within days, but Ximena held on for two more weeks, sometimes well enough to give advice on issues in the Glade, sometimes not even able to speak.

A few days after Nick's death, however, it became obvious she would die.

The mood in the Glade was the blackest Alby had ever known it.

Ximena died five days before the Box came with new Greenies. There was a crate full of antibiotics, Alby wanted to throw them back in the Creators' faces.

* * *

 **A/N: These seem to have taken a depressing turn don't they? I should really be doing my English homework instead of this. Please review if you have any ideas for what I should write.**


	5. Chapter 23: Rachel

The code made Rachel think of a disease, she didn't know why and she was too tired to even care. The four of them went and showered, changed their clothes, went to sleep.

They were curled on soft moss, underneath a thick blanket and with Aris lying next to her Rachel was so comfortable she was asleep instantly.

She didn't wake until it was time to go to the Homestead, they all did. Picking up themselves and their blankets and following all the other Gladers into the building, tonight they would be on the ground floor. For a moment Rachel wondered why she felt so comfortable sleeping with two boys she barely knew. Thomas was strange and distant, Rachel deeply hoped he wasn't going to do anything as stupidly heroic as when he had run into the Maze to save Alby and Minho. If he did, she would murder him.

They didn't sleep, having done so already, just lay under their blankets, silently curled together. Everyone huddled together at the wall when the Grievers came, attacking the floor above. Rachel felt a great relief, it hadn't been one of them.

Suddenly Thomas bolted from the room, after the Griever carrying an unknown boy. Rachel, Teresa and Aris all screamed after him. She was certainly going to kill him if the Grievers didn't.

They ran to the Doors Thomas had run out of, Rachel hoping that he had only done what Minho had the first night. That had prompted both Miyoko and Harriet to scream at him.

Boys were idiots.

After a few minutes that seemed like a million years Thomas ran back. Bruised and sweating, he collapsed as soon as he reached the Glade. Teresa lunged forward to prevent him cracking his head against the stone wall. Rachel and Aris both moved to help her.

Miyoko called for Medis and Grief Serum, a path cleared through the crowd as the three of them carried Thomas up to the Med Room.

 _Why do you keep being so goddamn stupid?_ Rachel asked Thomas telepathically, not expecting an answer.

They laid him on one of the beds, a Medi injecting the Grief Serum into his arm, they said he had been Stung dozens of times.

Teresa had taken Thomas's hand, was squeezing it as consciousness faded from his eyes.

He did that on purpose didn't he? She questioned, and it immediately made sense to Rachel. Thomas had deliberately got Stung and was going through the Changing to return his memories, to find a way out.

Rachel was definitely going to kill him.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this is so short, I'm babysitting and bored**.


	6. Chapter 30: Rachel

**I am aware that this is the third chapter I have written of six from Rachel's POV. It's just good for the story. I really need to do something for Minho and Newt so if anyone has ideas please say so.**

Apparently there was a slide at the end of the chamber, what on earth was wrong with these Creators?

Teresa turned to Thomas. "Looks like it ends in a slide up there, shooting downward."

"Seriously?" Rachel sighed. "These Creators need their heads looking at, maybe with bullets." She was only half-joking, what reasons had there been for them to put them in the Maze.

Before long all the other Gladers except the four of them had disappeared into the blackness.

"Here goes nothing." Rachel slid herself into the chute. It was disgusting, dirty and slimy and utterly yuck. Screams and shouts echoed everywhere, people complaining that they were being kicked in the head. Hearing that Rachel put her hands up to protect her skull, she did not need a concussion.

Soon enough her hands were hit by someone's feet, that had been a good decision. They were turning in a spiral, to slow them down, which meant that the ride was ending. Rachel braced herself to fall onto a hard floor, or whoever was in front of her, no way the Creators had put out a crashmat.

Suddenly Rachel shot out of the chute, almost landing on Chuck, she got straight up, it seemed to be a habit of hers.

Aris, Teresa and Thomas followed her, falling onto the mess of people on the floor.

That had been one of the most awful experiences yet, everyone covered in the slimy filth. "That was disgusting." She complained, trying to at least wipe her face clean, but it proved impossible. Hopefully there would be showers wherever they ended up.

The room was huge, Griever pods lined the walls, and they could see the Creators, watching them, they all looked a month away from skeletons.

Many of the Gladers were shouting at them, Rachel settled for flipping them off.

The Gladers stood in a tight knot. Rachel and her friends seemed to converge without even thinking about it, there was something incredibly creepy about this place.

She reached out, took Aris's hand and he squeezed it, she just needed to hold something, it helped with the sense of foreboding.

An alarm sounded and a door opened, three people walking into the room. A teenage boy and girl and a strange woman.

"Welcome back," the woman finally said. "Over two years, and so few dead. Amazing."

"Over half of us just died back there. You call that few." Harriet's voice was filled with rage.

The woman considered them all. "Everything has gone according to plan, Miss Harriet. Although we expected a few more of you to give up along the way."  
Several Gladers looked personally insulted by that comment.

She gestured to her companions, who, in unison, reached up and removed their hoods to reveal two familiar faces.

Beth and Gally, WICKED had somehow found them and brought them here.  
Rachel felt suddenly exposed, stepping back, holding tighter to Aris, they needed to be away from the front of this group.

From then everything happened so fast Rachel's mind could hardly process it.

Minho was shouting at the woman, she was announcing a 'final variable' like she was testing a new painkiller on mice. Beth and Gally took knives from their pockets, threw them.

Rachel was suddenly aware that Beth had thrown a knife at her chest, she was going to die.

But the blade never hit her, because suddenly she wasn't in its path. Aris had pulled her to the side, both of them stumbling. The dagger only hit air.

Someone was crying, screaming, but Rachel could not hear the words, her brain could not process it. She was crying, shaking in fear, what was wrong with her?

Aris had his arms around her, hugging her tightly, and Rachel held on just as fiercely, in that moment he was the only real thing.

There was screaming, shouting, she was vaguely aware that 'Thomas' was one of the most common words used. She was coming back to herself, more aware of what was going on.

Rachel couldn't believe how close she had come to death.

The woman from WICKED broke the silence.  
"All things happen for a purpose," she said, any sign of malice now gone from her voice. "You must understand this. Although the girl was supposed to die too."  
 _Why, what did I ever do?_ Rachel thought, finally pulling away from Aris, still holding onto his hand. She looked around, Thomas and Teresa were next to them, staring at a body by their feet, a pool of blood.

Chuck. The boy that had been everyone's little brother, in a way. Gone. Dead. The same debilitating feeling rose in Rachel's chest but she pushed it down.

Near to the woman, Gally was lying on the floor, breathing shallowly, his face bloody, someone must have attacked him, likely as revenge for killing Chuck.

Beth was slowly getting up from the ground, she tried to wake him for a moment, but soon gave up, which was uncharacteristic. She got up, moving as oddly as she had when entering the room, walked to the main group of Gladers. No one greeted or rejected her. Rachel was dimly aware that the other girl had almost murdered her, but most of what she felt was pity.

Outside the doors there were shouts and commotion, the woman panicking, Rachel felt absolutely no sympathy for her.

Several men and women dressed in grimy jeans and soaking-wet coats burst through the entrance with guns raised, yelling and screaming words over each other. It was impossible to understand what they were saying.

Two newcomers tackled her, shooting her in the head.  
Guns swept left and right at the windows, the Creators falling, screams and blood.  
A man addressed the Gladers. "We don't have time to explain. Just follow me and run like your life depends on it. Because it does." 

The Gladers ran, sprinting through corridors and hallways. Rachel didn't allow any single emotion to take hold of her, she just focused on running.

Outside the building they were led to a battered bus, a odd heavy, oily rain soaking them.

Rachel ran up the steps with Aris, going all the way to the backseat, Thomas and Teresa joining them after some small commotion outside.

The bus began to drive, a woman ran in front of it but the driver didn't stop.


	7. George and Mary

This is going to be depressing, it's about Brenda's brother George, who was the first Glader to die, and his partner Mary. These names are a reference to the films but The Fever Code did make Brenda having a brother a canon thing.

 **Mary**

The two of them were among the first Gladers, the group of twenty eight who found themselves lying on the grass of what they came to call the Glade, remembering nothing except their own names and an odd feeling of connection to the person of the opposite gender lying next to them. Not a romantic feeling, just a vagueness in the back of your mind: _They are your friend, you can trust them,_ an unknown voice seemed to say.

They were there from the start, figuring out what was going on, giving names to the strange things around them. Exploring the Maze when the Doors first opened, creating jobs, a system, a sort of society. There weren't any real rules at the start, in fact what happened to George created the rules.

He had gone to explore the Maze with Nick, Minho had mentioned creatures he had seen there, horrifying things. No one had yet got close enough to really describe one, or know what they did.

Nick dragged George back to the Glade, into a corner where he wouldn't be seen by anyone. Everyone else there was relatively high in their odd hierarchy of command: Ximena, Alby, Harriet, Newt. No one told Mary to leave, and she wasn't going anywhere, not until she got answers about why her best friend was writhing on the ground, and Alby had just been punching him in the face.

Ximena got to the second question before Mary could.

"What are you hitting him for, c'mon, he's our friend, he needs help."

"He was trying to freaking bite me! Back off!" Alby was yelling, Harriet put a hand on his arm, giving him a _don't you dare_ look. The boy relented, Harriet was thirteen and not quite five foot tall, but was quite the force of nature. Everyone knew Alby had started to see her as a sister from early on.

"Boys, slim it," Newt said, stepping in between them. "Let's figure this out. What do we do?"

They stood over George, who'd gotten worse. His head actually looked like it might explode from the swelling. He was beet-red and puffy. Veins bulged along his forehead and temples. And his eyes…they were enormous.

"Did you see what attacked him?" Alby asked Nick, seeming to have forgotten that a few seconds ago they were on the verge of a fight.

Nick shook his head. "Saw nothing."

"Did George say anything?" Newt asked.

Nick nodded. "Well, yeah, I think so. Not sure, but…I think he kept whispering, 'It stung me, it stung me, it stung me….' It was weird, man. He sounded like he was possessed or something. What're we gonna do!"

Mary knelt down, put her hand on George's forehead, it felt feverishly hot.

What had happened? Stung. What did it all mean?

"Come on," Alby said, leaning down to grab George's legs. "No use trying to hide this anymore. Let's get him out to the middle of the Glade and gather everybody. See if anyone knows what to do."

Newt cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, staring right at the camera on the beetle blade that had crept close to them. "Hey! Whoever sent us here! Send us some medicine. How 'bout a bloody doctor? Better yet, why don't you take us out of this hellhole!"

It took all of them to carry George, he was thrashing hard, screaming. Mary was silently begging the Creators not to let her friend die. The relationships existing between 'partners' were one of the most important things in the Glade. To have another person who understood you so completely, thought the same way, it was as if half of your soul existed in another body.

They stopped at the Homestead, dropping George to the ground. Mary remained knelt next to him, her best friend wouldn't hurt her, would he?

They were surrounded by beetle blades, Mary wanted to smash the nearest one, show the Creators her anger, but the creatures were always too fast for that.

"Listen up!" Nick yelled. Thomas was a little surprised that Alby hadn't taken charge. "Georgie and I were out in the maze, running the corridors, and he got up ahead of me. Something attacked him. He keeps saying he got stung. Anybody know anything about this?"

"Minho's seen some kind of creature out there," Alby said. "Where's Minho?"  
"Still running," someone answered. "Probably taking a nap in one of the Deadends."  
"It was one of those creatures he talked about, though," Alby said. "Had to be."

"It doesn't really matter what it was." Nick pointed down at George, who was curled into a tight ball, rocking back and forth on his side. "What are we going to do with him? All we have is a bunch of aspirin and bandages."

"There was something weird in the cooking supplies they sent up last week." Frypan spoke up.

"What are you talking about, Siggy?" the leader asked him.  
"His name's Frypan!" someone called out. "You're the only one who doesn't call him that."  
A few snickers broke out, which couldn't have been more incongruous to the situation, given the boy writhing in agony at their feet. Mary wanted to scream at them all to shut up.

"It was in the bottom of a cardboard box. Some kind of syringe, had the word serum printed on it. I figured it was a mistake—somebody had accidentally dropped it in there, whatever. Threw it out with the sausage leftovers this morning."

Alby stepped up to the boy and grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him close. "You threw it out? Didn't bother telling anybody? No wonder you wanna cook—ain't got brains for nothin' else."

Siggy smiled. "If that makes you feel smarter. Anyway, I'm telling you now, aren't I? Slim it."  
"Where'd you throw it away?" Nick asked. "Maybe it's not broken. Let's at least take a look at it."  
"Be right back." Siggy jogged off toward the Homestead.

It only took three or four minutes, but by the time Frypan returned with a slender metallic cylinder gripped in his hand, George had plummeted from bad to worse. More like from worse to worst. Mary had taken hold of one of his hands in both of hers, even though everyone else had recoiled from him. _Please don't let him die,_ she begged, _don't make me be alone_.

He'd gone still except for his chest, which moved rapidly as he gasped for air. His jaw had gone slack, his limbs loose, his muscles relaxed from their clenched-state form earlier. The boy wasn't long for this world.

Siggy had given the syringe to Nick, who now knelt by George's side. He hardly moved at all now, barely breathing. His eyes looked empty of life.

"Anyone know how to do this?" Nick called out. "Where to stick it?"  
"Anywhere!" Alby yelled. "Just hurry and do it! Look at him!"

No one else even bothered replying, so Nick took the syringe, braced his thumb against it, then stabbed it into George's arm. The boy didn't even flinch. Nick pressed the plunger down until all the fluid was gone; then he dropped it on the ground, stood up, and took a couple of steps back. Everyone except Mary backed away, watching what would happen with morbid curiosity.

"Come on, Georgie," Nick said, barely loud enough to hear. That and the rustling of a soft breeze were the only sounds in the Glade.

Suddenly George got to his feet with a scream, Mary scrambled backwards a few feet.

"Griever! It was a damn Griever! They'll kill us all!" He was shouting, for a split second all was quiet. Mary met her friends eyes, saw a spark of sanity in him before it disappeared entirely, never to reappear.

George screamed again, flew at the nearest boy, pounding on him, clawing at his eyes. His victim cried out in agony as several Gladers tried to pull them apart.

Alby came running towards them, holding something, a long stick with a sharp point.

"Get out of the way!" He was commanding. Mary knew what he was going to do, wanted so badly to stop him, but there were no words in her mouth.

Alby thrust the makeshift spear into the back of George's neck with enough force that it burst through to the other side. George's cries turned into choking gargles as his body fell to the side. The kid scrambled out from under him, his hands covering his injured face.

George twitched, moaned, then went still.  
Blood darkened the dirt and stone below him.

Then Mary began to scream, her best friend was dead, she was alone.

* * *

 **A/N: I am writing another chapter about the early Glade from Minho's POV right now and it should be up by Tuesday. I'm going to put more about Mary in the story when Brenda appears in The Scorch Trials.**


	8. Arriving in the Glade: Minho

Waking up was a natural thing, but not when you were in a strange place, and could only remember your own name. It was also quite odd to have been sleeping in the middle of the day, next to a girl you had no memory of but who you knew wasn't a stranger.

Minho counted, there were twenty-eight people lying about the place, on the grass, on a stone courtyard, near to the door of a ramshackle house that looked as if it had stood there since time began.

In the centre there was an odd square, that from his vantage point seemed to lead nowhere, there were animal pens, miscellaneous buildings, fields, a small forest.

And strangely enough, the whole area, that was perhaps a mile square, was walled, huge slabs of stone, the only seams in the centre of each.

What on earth was this place? Were they even on earth?

Others were beginning to wake up, they all lay in pairs, a boy and a girl every time, many looking similar, and all between the ages of thirteen and fifteen.

The girl lying next to Minho woke up, pushing her black hair away from her face, staring at the place. Everyone was staring, utterly in shock, some were crying.

That first day no one said, or did all that much, too disoriented. Food had been provided in a kitchen, whoever had sent them here didn't want them to starve.

Minho didn't learn much that day, the only thing of note was that the girl who lay next to him was called Miyoko, and when she said that he knew that he had known her before this place.

* * *

The next day was no different, everyone wandered alone, no one knew anyone else, the only thing in common was that they were all trapped in this place and without their memories.

Minho found himself walking along the walls, studying them, the seams looked as if they could open. He had been walking since dawn, hoping against hope that something would change, open, reveal an exit. Miyoko had joined him for a while, then left to lie curled in a ball on the ground, she hadn't moved in hours.

Late that afternoon, Minho tried to climb the wall.

It wasn't difficult to climb the ivy, but the wall seemed to get taller as he did, the plant and footholds somehow becoming more scarce. It wasn't right, wasn't possible, but the wall couldn't be climbed, at least not there.

A crowd had gathered, cheering, some following, Minho hated to dash their hopes, but there was nothing else to do. Twenty-five feet off the ground he could tell that it was impossible to go further.

"Can't be done here," he said, after reaching the ground. "Let's try another spot."

Three hours and all four walls later, the sky almost dark, he gave up.

So did everyone else.

* * *

The next morning everyone was woken by the world shaking, all filled with the same terror from when they had found themselves here only two days before.

The seams in the walls were opening, no matter how impossible it seemed.

Some cried, but others were hopeful, there had to be an exit beyond the doors.

They explored the maze of passages beyond the walls, but found nothing except for a cliff with a never-ending drop, no way out. Unless your exit was death, they were trapped, maybe for the rest of their lives.

* * *

They figured out many things the first month, began to name the strange places and objects. Names that seemed to appear in the mind of whoever first considered one, and that were never contested.

Their home was the Glade, the odd building was the Homestead, the tiny robotic creatures that followed them were Beetle Blades.

Outside the Doors was the Maze, and it was their only source of hope and escape, a maze had to have a solution.

Inside the Glade, the boys and girls discovered how to live, found aptitudes for various jobs.

Builders, Track-Hoes, Slicers, Cooks, several others, but Minho hadn't taken to any of them.

Instead he had discovered the Maze.

They had to map it, they decided, after learning that the walls moved every night, there had to be a reason for that. Some of the Gladers showed a talent for running through the corridors and passages of the Maze, memorising them for long enough to draw them on returning to the Glade. The sightings of odd creatures weren't enough to put them off.

They were runners.

* * *

The first day of the second month an alarm sounded in the middle of the morning. It was time for the Box to return, it came every week with supplies, but there was never an alarm.

The Gladers all gathered to watch it come up, pull the doors open. What had been so special for the Creators to set off that alarm?

Inside the Box they found a boy and girl, every bit as terrified and disoriented as they had all been that first day, it seemed so long ago. They were huddled in a corner, eyes squeezed tight against the light.

Their names were Adam and Eve, Minho knew he wasn't the only one to realise the cruel joke.

Next to them was an open crate. Mary, who had been helping George greet the terrified newbies, looked into it and laughed.

"Greenbeans, full of them", she held up a handful, looked at the boy and girl who were stood now, looking around in confusion. "Maybe that's what we should call you." Mary had smiled her last smile that day, handing a bean to Eve who ate it as if she thought it could be poison.

* * *

 **A/N: This isn't Tuesday, but I'm putting this up anyway, school starts tomorrow and Mum comes to tell me to get off my laptop in approximately two minutes.**


	9. Escaping the Maze: Harriet

Alby did not want to go on with the escape attempt, he was terrified of it. Harriet was slightly ashamed of some of what she had said to make him come with them.

Well really she had only had to say that she wouldn't leave if he didn't.

His love for her must have been stronger than his terror.

Harriet loved Alby too, he had always been like a brother to her. The hand that helped her up on the first day, every time she fell he was there.

And every time he cried, which was more often than most thought, she would comfort him.

It wasn't the best system, but it worked for them.

After one last meal they gathered all the Gladers in front of the Doors. A pathetic army of teenagers with meager weapons, ready to face down a possibly equally large, and better equipped army of monsters they had no way to defeat.

Monsters that had killed dozens of them. George. Nick. Ximena. Someone had to remember them, that was one of Harriet's reasons to keep going.

She had taken the list of Gladers, stuck the pad of paper in her pocket. A tick mark by the name of each that was coming along, she hoped she wouldn't have to cross off too many names.

"There're seventy two of us." Newt announced, perhaps thirty had decided to stay in the Glade, but none had disagreed with their boxmate. Jane and Frypan had had quite the screaming match about it, but he had somehow managed to persuade her.

Harriet wrote that number on her pad, then shoved it deep in her pocket. Reaching out to take Alby's hand, he was shaking.

"Make sure you've got your weapons. Other than that, isn't a whole lot to buggin' say—you've all been told the plan. We're gonna fight our way through to the Griever Hole, and Tommy here's gonna punch in his little magic code and then we're gonna get payback on the Creators. Simple as that." Newt continued, glancing at Alby who was staring at the ground, fingering his bowstring.

"Shouldn't someone give a pep talk or something?" Minho asked.  
"Go ahead," Newt replied.  
Minho nodded and faced the crowd. "Be careful," he said dryly. "Don't die."  
Harriet rolled her eyes at their stupid banter, but if it helped even one person, it was a godsend.

"Great. We're all bloody inspired," Newt answered, then pointed over his shoulder, toward the Maze. "You all know the plan. After two years of being treated like mice, tonight we're making a stand. Tonight we're taking the fight back to the Creators, no matter what we have to go through to get there. Tonight the Grievers better be scared."

"Should have waited until next week." Sonya quipped, this made many girls laugh and Harriet joined in, next week was shark week for all the girls. It was always interesting.  
The Gladers cheered, the sound shaking the air.

Then, as one, they ran into the Maze.

it took an hour to reach the Cliff, stopping where if they peeked around the corner they could see where the Maze ended, the endless abyss that would be their salvation. If the Greenies were right.

Miyoko peeked around the edge of the wall, her face was pale when she returned.  
"Grievers, at least a dozen, more than I've ever seen, just sitting there." Of course.  
Minho opened his mouth to reply to her but was but off by the sounds of metal on stone, of Grievers moving.

The group Miyoko had spotted was coming towards them, stopping only a dozen feet away. Another was approaching from the other end of the long corridor, the Gladers were trapped, everyone backing into each other, a tight crowd.  
"We shouldn't have come," Alby said. There was something odd in his voice, something Harriet had never heard before. It scared her, and not much did that.

Suddenly he grabbed her, squeezing her in a tight hug.

"What?" Harriet held on despite her confusion, she always initiated embraces, physical contact, never Alby.

"Get out of the way. Stay alive. Keep leading. Lead them out. Never give up." The instructions came rapidly, Harriet suddenly knew what he was going to do, opened her mouth to tell him no.  
"And thanks for being my friend. Goodbye." Alby kissed the top of her head then let go of her, running towards the Grievers.

No. No. No. No. No. He was going to sacrifice himself, to save them, to save her.

Because he couldn't bear to return to the world he had seen in the changing.

"ALBY! Get back here!" Newt yelled, but the leader didn't respond. Harriet did nothing, it wouldn't help. She could feel hot tears silently making their way down her cheeks.

Alby didn't stop, now sprinting towards the creatures. Sonya and Minho had grabbed Newt, stopping him from following.  
Five or six Grievers all went for Alby at once, attacking him in a blur of metal and skin, the boy didn't scream, his body disappearing before their eyes.

Harriet couldn't look away, couldn't scream.

Alby was gone. Dead. He had sacrificed himself for them all. For her.

Everyone who had seen what had happened was frozen in shock, those who hadn't clamoured to hear what the hold up was.  
"We need to go now, maybe they've gone dormant." Rachel began, Harriet nodded, they couldn't waste this, she wouldn't allow it.

"How can you be so heartless." Newt whispered, Harriet turned on him, sudden anger igniting in her chest.  
"You know as well as the rest of us what he did. Now let's not waste it." They had to use it, if even only one of them escaped, it would be worth it. Better to die now than die terrified, waiting for it to be your turn to be carried off by the monsters.

Harriet turned back to the Grievers and swallowed, still crying, they seemed to be feeding on Alby's body. A red stain of blood on the corridor and the creatures' bodies.

Minho turned and faced the huddled group of Gladers. "Listen up! Number one priority is to protect Thomas and Teresa. Get them to the Cliff and the Hole so—"

The sounds of the Grievers revving to life cut him off. The creatures on both sides of their group seemed to have noticed them again. Spikes were popping in and out of blubbery skin; their bodies shuddered and pulsed.

Then, in unison, the monsters moved forward, slowly, instrument-tipped appendages unfolding, pointed at the Gladers, ready to kill. Tightening their trap formation like a noose, the Grievers steadily charged toward them.

Alby's sacrifice had failed miserably.  
Harriet had never hated the Creators more.

The battle was chaos. Harriet found herself fighting back to back with Sonya. Gladers were falling quickly, blood and screams.

But some screams came from the Grievers, some blood was yellow, like fuel, pouring from their disgusting bodies.

They could kill them, if they stabbed deep enough. Harriet screamed the information as loudly as she could, but doubted many heard her.

Alejandra used her axe to rip off a saw arm.

Minho and Newt teamed up to take down one of the monsters.

Out of the corner of her eye Harriet saw Thomas fall down the Griever Hole.

Miyoko yelled something about attacking the monsters from behind.

Blades and claws stabbed and scratched at Harriet's skin, blood, dirt and sweat covered her clothes.

Flo was cut in half by a swipe of a Griever's huge knife, a twelve year old girl. Dead. Harriet's resolve increased.

Then it all ended. The Grievers all shutting down. Harriet looked around.

Half Gladers who had made the run lay dead. Somehow, more girls than boys had survived.

The medis were checking the fallen. A few were still alive, hoisted up to be carried.

They weren't leaving behind anyone that was still breathing.

Minho was the first to jump down the Griever Hole, shouting that it was safe down there. Harriet waited at the back of the crowd, making sure no one got left behind.

Newt, Sonya, Miyoko, Mary, Frypan, Jane, Leo…

Twenty boys and thirty girls, if the four that had jumped down the Hole to shut off the creatures were still alive.

Harriet pushed Helen off the Cliff, waited ten seconds and followed.

The Hole was an icy line, passing over her body, she fell onto a slimy floor.

Newt pulled her to her feet, Alby wasn't there to do it any more.

Harriet's grief for her best friend, her partner, almost brother, was all consuming, but she pushed it down. The time for breaking down was later.

"You know what?" Minho was saying, releasing Miyoko from a bear hug. "Half might've died, but half of us shucking lived. And nobody got stung—just like Thomas thought. We've gotta get out of here."

"That we do." Harriet wanted to smile, but it just wouldn't come.

There was a slide at the end of the chamber, and it was a disgusting experience, falling out at the bottom wasn't exactly dignified either.

Again Harriet looked for Alby's hand, a habit built from more than two years of him always being there, a habit she would have to break.

They were faced with the Creators, Harriet didn't join those who hurled abuse at them, but she truly hated them.

They had killed Alby, she would never forgive them.

Beth and Gally appeared with a woman. Harriet hardly cared how or why, it was all crashing down on her. How many more names was she going to have to strike through? Could she bear to do it?

"Welcome back," the woman said after a long silence. "Over two years, and so few dead. Amazing." Harriet wanted to kill her.

"Over half of us just died back there. You call that few." She threw all her rage and hate into the words, thinking of Alby, his body consumed by the Grievers.

Ximena, dying of sepsis when they could so easily have sent the medicine to save her, had done just days after.

The woman stared at her. "Everything has gone according to plan, Miss Harriet. Although we expected a few more of you to give up along the way." If Harriet ever made a hit list, this bitch would be on the top.

There was screaming. Gally had thrown a knife, and it had hit Chuck in the chest. Thomas was holding him, begging for help as the boy's eyes closed.

Harriet thought of Flo's body, abandoned in two pieces. How she had seen Chuck looking for her, his despair when he saw that she wasn't coming.

How could human beings be so cruel? It was clear Beth and Gally were being controlled by the Creators, she was reminded of how Alby had attempted to strangle himself after the Changing.

Thomas suddenly attacked Gally, but Harriet didn't watch. Where had Beth's knife stuck, it had been aiming for Rachel.

But Rachel was safe, shaking as Aris held her.

What was this? They were all just pawns in some sick game.

Minho and Newt dragged Thomas away from Gally, who lay still but breathing.

Beth stood as if possessed, hardly reacting to the condition of her only friend, walking to join the body of Gladers. Harriet would welcome her back, as long as she could give some sort of explanation.

A sudden series of shouts and commotion began outside the entrance through which the woman had come. She visibly panicked, the blood draining from her face as she turned toward the door.

Several men and women dressed in grimy jeans and soaking-wet coats burst through the entrance with guns raised, yelling and screaming words over each other. It was impossible to understand what they were saying.

Two newcomers tackled the woman, shooting her in the head.

Guns swept left and right at the windows, the Creators falling, screams and blood.

A man addressed the Gladers. "We don't have time to explain. Just follow me and run like your life depends on it. Because it does."

Harriet didn't hesitate, she so badly wanted to get out of this place.

They were led into strange hot rain, onto a battered bus. Harriet threw herself down on a seat.

It all came crashing down on her.

Alby was dead, so many were dead.

She sobbed.

* * *

 **A/N: This will be my last exploration of the relationship between Harriet and Alby, I hope it wasn't too depressing.**


	10. First Run: Newt

It had only taken them a few days to organise, most people had an aptitude for certain jobs, the farm was up and running after a week.

At first they explored the Maze without fear, anyone could go in and out but most didn't bother.

When George was killed Nick and Ximena made a rule that only runners could go into the Maze. No one dared to break it.

There were eight pairs of runners, one for each section, they were those that seemed to have an aptitude for it. This included Newt and Sonya, they were the best so they were Keepers of the Runners.

Not that it meant all that much before they figured out to map the changes in the wall patterns.

Sonya was waiting for him when he came out of the showers, shaking her head at how long he'd been.

"How long does it take ya to wake up? My hair's nearly dry." She flicked the tail of her braid at him, there was still enough moisture to wet the end of his nose. Newt rubbed it away, smirking at her.

It was the first day they would explore the Maze as fully fledged Runners.

Sonya ran a little ahead of Newt, laughing, calling him to keep up. Her red-blonde braid swung with her movements. They looked more alike than most pairs, white skin, blonde hair, blue eyes. Newt was a year older than her, they had guessed. Her features were more pronounced, brighter hair and eyes, paler skin. A very pretty girl, but thinking of her in any other terms than 'friend' sent revulsion through his entire body. Alby had guessed they could be siblings, sharing the same accent and features, Newt wasn't going to rule it out considering no one had any memories.

The Gladers were all between thirteen and fifteen, and none of them had any memories but their names. Newt hated it, hated the Maze, the Creators who had put them here and stolen their lives. But he hid it behind a smile.

Sonya's smiles were real, and Newt envied her.

They ran until they reached the end of Section Five, the one they had chosen, until it was time to come back. A few Gladers had tried to stay out at night, to see what really changed out there.

They had only found ripped, bloody clothes.

They guessed it had been the Grievers, no one else had been Stung yet. Newt shuddered at the memory. But they had been sent more syringes of the serum. If anyone else ever got stung, he knew they would try it again, nothing else would help.

The thought of the monsters encouraged Newt to speed up a little, falling into step with Sonya, noting down the changes in the walls on a scrap of paper. Every few turns they cut down ivy to mark the way back to the Glade, Minho had come up with it and it was a good idea.

Minho and Miyoko ran Section Seven, and Newt thought they might even be better than him and Sonya before long, he would be happy to surrender the position of Keeper. He was good at being a leader, everyone said, but he didn't like it.

Sonya, of course, was much better, she often worked with Ximena and Harriet. Newt shuddered at the memory of the last time the three of them had teamed up, it had been a terrifying experience.

"You're thinking." Sonya stated, slowing down. "The apocalypse is upon us." She smiled mischievously.

"Nothing important. Race you to the Cliff."

Most of the day continued that way, they didn't come across any Grievers and Newt was glad of it. No one had any ideas as to where the creatures came from, what they were, what they were doing here. A part of Newt hoped they never learnt.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, this is short. For whatever reason I've always found Newt a hard character to write. This is my second chapter about the relationship between Newt and Sonya. There'll be more but for The Maze Runner I wanted to focus on Alby and Harriet.**

 **Next chapter of the main part will be done by Monday.**


	11. Controlled: Beth

**This is going to cover from when Thomas and Rachel appear in the Maze to the end of the first book. Hope you enjoy.**

It was Greenies day. Beth remembered, easing herself out of her sort-of-bed. She had made it out of old crates and a mattress they didn't need in the Homestead. Gally was still snoring on the other side of the room.

They had a tiny hut all to themselves, and a little bit of electricity running from a wire from the main fusebox in the Homestead basement. Being Keepers of the Builders certainly had its upsides.

It was still dark, at least an hour before the wake up, meaning that she would get a private shower and be the first in line for bacon. Meaning today was going to be a good day.

But first things first she had to wake Gally up. Well, she didn't have to, but she did enjoy it. Taking the bottle of water she kept on a shelf she filled the cap and threw it in his face.

Her friend woke up, spluttering and glaring at her.

"One day I'm gonna do that to you."

"You haven't woken up before me in two years." Beth picked up her shower supplies from the corner. "And brush your teeth."

"Yes mother." Gally scowled but she knew he'd do it, she was the only person he trusted and listened to.

She rolled her eyes, walked to the shower block. Beth brushed her teeth, washed her face, body and hair and conditioned her hair. The hot water was wonderful, so was the peace, no one shouting at her to hurry up.

When she finished she shut off the water, dried off and dressed, going back to their hut to dry her hair. The Creators had sent up hairdryers at some point, and Beth didn't enjoy wet hair soaking her back, and if she didn't do something about it it'd be wet till lunch.

After she had braided her dry hair and Gally had returned others had started to wake up. There was a feeling in the air that something was going to change. Soon.

"I keep remembering the Changing, something's going to happen." Gally spoke up from where he was considering a blueprint.

"What?" Beth remembered well what had happened when he had been Stung. He had left the Glade just for the rush of it, she had found him collapsed by the Doors, dragged him to the Homestead.

She had sat by his side for three days whilst he writhed and screamed, in return he had told her what he had seen.

 _"We lived in a sterile facility, like a hospital." Gally clutched at her hand, Beth squeezed it back. No one else saw this side of him, the terrified fourteen year old boy who hid his fear behind cruelty. The one who had cried every night the first week, sometimes still did. Beth is sixteen, practically an adult here. At first, when he had cried longer than the rest they had mocked him, she had held out a hand._

 _That kindness had drawn him to her, she was the only person he liked and respected. Gally could hold a grudge forever apparently._

 _"They experimented on us, when I was seven they did a surgery on us all, put implants in our brains to monitor brain activity." Implants in their brains, an awful thought. Beth reached up almost involuntarily, traced the scar above her left ear. Gally had one above his right, too uniform to have been accidental._

 _"We tried to escape. Minho, Newt, Alby, some others. They were kept there with us. But these other four kids, who were really special. They turned us in. I don't know what they did to punish the others, but they shut you and me in a dark room for two weeks, they fed us but never let any light in." Beth thought of how they both hated darkness, such an experience could create such a phobia._

 _"And later, those others, they helped these scientists send us into the Maze, steal our memories." His eyes were haunted. Beth put a hand on his cheek, turned his gaze to her._

 _She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. No one else had ever told anyone what they had seen in the Changing, and Beth resolved to never tell anyone what she had heard._

"Don't think about it." She advised, as she always did.

* * *

Later, when the Greenies came Gally pointed them out to her, hatred in his stare. Both maybe sixteen, a dark-skinned girl with hardly any hair, a brunet boy built like a Runner.

Not too different than most Greenies. Beth took Gally's hand and led him to the Homestead.

"I saw them. They were the ones who turned us in, them and another pair. They stopped us escaping. They sent us here." The hatred on his face was disturbing, Beth hoped he would let it go, but knew it was unlikely.

The boy and girl made their way in, wandering like lost puppies. The boy, Thomas, apparently. Was stupid enough to go and see where Ben was writhing in the Changing.

"Keep your head down. Don't be stupid, like that." Beth advised the girl, not yet knowing her name. She wasn't going to pass judgement just yet.

* * *

A few days later, the shank greenie, Thomas, ran out into the Maze to help Minho and Alby. Beth silently applauded him. That night Gally returned to their hut with a broken nose. Again. He said the stick greenie, who Beth had now learnt was named Rachel, had broken it when he had said there was no point sitting up for Thomas.

Beth knew he must have said it worse than that, but she just cleaned it up.

* * *

The Gathering was a disaster. Beth ended up dragging Gally out before long, after giving her recommendation of punishment. Gally fought her but she kept her death grip on his shirt until they were well into the Deadheads.

"You need to get over this!" She screamed at him, it had gone on long enough. His obsessive hatred of Thomas and Rachel, the unknown boy and girl still comatose in the Med Room.

"I want too, but I can't. We'd be free if not for them. We'd have our memories, not be stuck in this place." Beth looked at him to tell him to stop being such a shuck idiot but his eyes had turned blank. He didn't look at her, turned and ran for the Doors out to the Maze.

No. No. Please. Not Again.

"If you get Stung again I won't drag you back!" Beth called after him, hoping he would return to her, but he didn't. She was left with the memory of that haunted, distant look in his eyes.

It scared her like nothing else ever had.

* * *

Beth didn't see Gally again until the first night in the Homestead, beginning to fear the worst. When he had ran through the Doors he had seemed possessed.

She was huddled in a corner, hating the grey darkness, remembering Gally's Changing fuelled description of the awful punishment that had brought on their nyctophobia: _I was ten and you were twelve. You made me lie down next to you, sang every song you knew._ Who would do that to kids? The same people who would trap them here.

Beth started to sing a song quietly, the one she sung in their hut when neither of them could sleep. About the stars in the sky. There were no stars in the now dark sky of the Glade.

Outside the Grievers wailed, Beth just focussed on the lyrics of the song.

Suddenly there was the sound of a Griever, its metal parts scraping across stone.  
Newt jumped up, gesturing for everyone else to stay down and quiet, he went to the window, pulling Sonya with him.  
The building began to shudder, in time with the sounds of the Grievers. They were climbing the walls, and it sounded like they were coming towards them.  
Everyone got up, crept to the far wall, all looked terrified, some were crying.

The door to the hallway opened, and everyone turned to it, momentarily forgetting the Grievers. It was Gally.  
Beth was suddenly livid, he was still alive and well, could have returned any time but had instead left her dreading the day the Runners brought his body back.  
"Gally what the shuck?" She whisper yelled at him, he didn't respond. He looked like the last time she had seen him, possessed.  
"You, It's all your fault!" Gally shouted, pointing at Thomas and his friends. He moved to hit Thomas but Beth grabbed him.

"Sit down and be quiet, or I'll throw you to the damn Grievers myself." She hissed, Gally shook her off.  
"It can't be solved," he said, his voice now quiet and distant, spooky. "The shuck Maze'll kill all you shanks…. The Grievers'll kill you … a pair every night till it's over…. I … It's better this way…." His eyes fell to the floor. "They'll only kill you one a night … their stupid Variables …"

Newt took a step forward. "Gally, shut your bloody hole—there's a Griever right out the window. Just sit on your butt and be quiet—maybe it'll go away."

Gally looked up, his eyes narrowing. "You don't get it, Newt. You're too stupid—you've always been too stupid. There's no way out—there's no way to win! They're gonna kill you, all of you—one by one!"

Screaming the last word, Gally threw his body toward the window and started tearing at the wooden boards like a wild animal trying to escape a cage. Before anyone could react, he'd already ripped one board free; he threw it to the ground.  
Newt and Sonya lunged forward, Gally wrenching the second board free, slamming it into the side of Newt's head. He fell onto the bed, there was a shower of blood.

Beth wanted to move to stop him, but she couldn't move, not even twitch her smallest toe. She was being controlled, just like Gally was, a prisoner in her own mind. She wondered what he thought, trapped in a body he was unable to control. He had mentioned implants in their heads, put there by scientists. That must be it.

She fought against it as hard as she could, but as soon as she seemed to regain control the strength of the shackles on her muscles doubled. She could not win.

The window exploded inward, almost everyone had fled to the hallway, Beth wished more than anything that she could join them.  
The pulsating body of the Griever began to enter through the window, reaching for Newt. Sonya shrieked and hit it away.

"No one ever understood!" Gally screamed over the horrible noise of the creature, crunching its way deeper into the Homestead, ripping the wall to pieces. "No one ever understood what I saw, what the Changing did to me! Don't go back to the real world! You don't … want … to remember!"

The Griever's arms reached out, latching onto Beth, she could not resist it. It was going to kill her. Gally yelled and tried to hit it away, attempting to free her, but this only allowed the creature to grab him as well. The monster seemed satisfied with its human trophies, clambering back out of the window and dropping to the floor of the Glade.

* * *

Beth didn't know anything for a long time after that.

She woke up in a room that was painfully bright, no idea where she was. She had been bathed, teeth cleaned and hair washed. The thought made her feel disgustingly exposed.

Gally lay not far away and Beth was immediately reminded of waking in the Glade for the first time. They were dressed identically, trainers, jeans, t-shirts and hoodies.

They spent several hours locked in the bright room, when Gally woke Beth crawled over to him, sang the only song she remembered.

A woman came for them, and the feeling of being controlled returned, but this time Beth was only compelled to stand and follow the woman.

They were led into a room filled with the other Gladers, all of them dirty, wounded and exhausted. What had happened?

Gally could still fight the control better, returning to himself for long enough to tell them that he didn't want to do, whatever it was they were intended to do.

Beth was stood directly in front of Rachel, facing her. Gally faced Thomas.

The woman was talking about Variables, Beth tried to beg for help with her eyes as she was compelled to take a knife from her back pocket. She hadn't even known it was there.

Her traitorous hand sent it spinning towards Rachel's heart and the control disappeared.

She sank to the floor, suddenly weak, dreading to look at what she had done. People was screaming, the smell of blood and death filled the air.

No. No. I didn't want to kill her. Please tell me I didn't kill her.

Thomas ran towards Gally, covered in blood but unharmed. He threw himself onto the other boy, punching, the sound of bone breaking. Beth tried to stop him but as soon as she got close enough to help the Control, fell over her again.

She was obliged to look around, watch the Gladers. They stared in shock, many mouths open, so many faces missing from the crowd. The body of Chuck, the youngest boy, on the floor in a pool of blood, a knife in his chest.

Had Beth done that, had Gally. Her eyes searched for Rachel, found her trembling in the arms of the last boy to come in the Box. She had never learnt the names of the newest pair.

Newt and Minho pulled Thomas away from Gally, who lay still but wasn't dead.

The Control made Beth stand, go to him but walk away almost immediately, walk to the pack of Gladers.

The whole time she begged to be released from the prison of her mind, begged for forgiveness for almost committing murder, for abandoning her best friend.

For being so weak they could Control her in the first place.

* * *

 **A/N: Congratulations if you got through this. You may have noticed that I write a lot from Group B characters, it's just because they're not fleshed out much in canon and I enjoy filling in the gaps. I am definitely going to explore Beth and Gally later on because I find them really interesting.**

 **If it doesn't make sense for Beth to be able to resist the control at all my headcanon is that she was always very strong willed so WICKED immediately upped the ante to full and kept it there.**

 **I've edited this because there was a terrifying amount of grammatical errors. Do not write at 3am, and post in Biology class, learn from my mistakes.**


	12. The Scorch Trials Chapters 11-15: Rachel

**I feel like I should warn you this contains description of a sort-of-breakdown, I don't know quite what to call it.**

One moment everything was fine, then there was an explosion and part of the ceiling fell down.

Rachel and Aris had moved forward, landing in a tangle of limbs on the dusty floor, everyone else scrambling for the stairs.

Thomas and Teresa, Brenda as well, had moved backwards. Now they were trapped on the other side of the huge lump of concrete. There was no getting around it, it was a miracle it hadn't crushed any of them.

Rachel tried to shout to them, but didn't think they heard her, they ran into the darkness of the tunnels. Not a bad idea, there had to be more than one entrance.

Harriet was shouting for everyone to get out, most already had. Beth and Sonya were shepherding stragglers.

"Come on. Let's go." Beth called to Rachel, not meeting her eyes. She really had to explain that she wasn't angry about the whole incident in the final chamber with the knives. It was no-one's fault but WICKED's. It had just been really traumatising for everyone involved.

Once they got out into the light Harriet started one of her roll calls. Everyone answered her apart from Thomas and Teresa.

Which meant everyone turned to Rachel and Aris.

"They ended up on the other side of that chunk of ceiling, like Brenda. Then they went deeper into the tunnels." Aris explained.

"We can try contact them." Rachel tapped her head, remembering the telepathy. She was about to reach out when Thomas's voice appeared in her mind.

 _Rachel, Aris, where are you?_

 _Somewhere Jorge's leading us. Where are you?_ She replied, aware they could have already left the tunnels. She assumed that was the plan anyway.

 _Underground, figure out where you're heading, and we'll meet you there._ Sounded sensible.

 _Sure thing._ Rachel was about to add _good luck_. But the connection to Thomas and Teresa suddenly disappeared, one look at Aris told her he had felt it as well. She wondered if the other two had.

 _What just happened?_ He asked her. Wait. They could still talk to each other, but not reach Thomas and Teresa. What was happening?

 _I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see_. She replied, they had to focus on keeping themselves alive.

Then Rachel realised everyone was still staring at her.

"We were talking to them then it just cut off. We'll keep trying."

That seemed to be enough for Jorge, Minho and Newt loudly discussing a route through the city to become the main focus of attention. Rachel noticed that after the incident most people didn't even seem shaken, this was what you adjusted to in this world apparently.

Not that she remembered any other type of world. She wasn't like Thomas with his weird memory dreams, or Aris and Teresa with their extra memories when they woke up. Instead every so often a voice would appear in her head. Always a message of some kind. They had been coming for days, and they always threw her off course.

Only last night she had heard a woman whisper _WICKED is Good_ as she prepared for sleep.

 _Rachel, you were always the least of the four. The throwaway. Before this is over you'll hope that knife struck true._ It was the sort of thing the voices said often, but it hit her hard, maybe due to the shock of the past few minutes. The man's tone was full of hatred and malice. It brought back the terror of that room full of death. She was going crazy, it had to be the Flare, just get to the Safe Haven. Get the Cure.

She repeated those words in her head until they almost felt real, hardly noticing that the group had started moving and that she was following.

The rest of the day passed in a daze, Jorge led them to stashes of food, avoiding Cranks. There were minor scuffles with a few but nothing close enough to snap her out of it. Rachel tried to fight her way out of the prison of her mind but the bars held fast.

On the outside she was a robot. On the inside she was beginning to panic.

Aris had stayed beside her the whole time. Leading her by the arm as if she was blind. She loved him for doing it but hated that it was necessary. How long had it been since the explosion, that tunnel? What was wrong with her? Why was it happening?

The panic in her chest rose to a fever pitch as the group stopped for the night. Rachel almost collapsed onto the floor of the abandoned building.

Then the shackles broke, they must have been the only thing holding her together because tears began to roll down her cheeks, she fell to her knees, curled up in a ball. Why couldn't she stop this? Was she being controlled?

"Rachel. Rach. What's wrong?" Aris turned to her, frantic. He had tried to talk to her all day, but she hadn't responded, couldn't respond. Now it was the same, just for a different reason.

"I don't know. I can't. These voices in my head." She was acutely aware of the fact that she wasn't making any sense. She had been stuck in her own head all day from a reminder of something she should have got over already, and now she was free she was crying like a child.

"What voices? What do they say?" Aris knelt in front of her, clutching her hands, the pack he had been rifling through forgotten. Both his face and voice were full of concern.

"That I should be dead. That I'll wish I was dead." She didn't mention the images, repeating the man's awful message from earlier verbatim. He had to be right if just the implication had this effect.

Aris turned away for a moment, talking to one of the medis. Rachel wondered if he was disgusted by her, she wouldn't have blamed him.

But soon enough he turned back to her. Wiping the tears from her face.

"She says she's got something to calm you down, help you sleep." The girl returned holding two pale blue pills. She passed them to Rachel and she stared at them, the letters WICKED printed on them in miniature. Of course. Their influence was everywhere.

Aris found their canteen and Rachel took it from him. Gradually she was feeling less like a wooden doll and more like a living, breathing girl.

The pills tasted sickly sweet on her tongue, so she quickly washed them down with the water. The feeling of comfort was almost instantaneous, which shouldn't have been possible.

But WICKED could do anything.

She was still crying as the medicine took hold. She wasn't sure what it was but it made her feel better, more grounded, tired.

But nowhere near right. Aris stared at her for what could have been a second or an hour, her sense of time was gone.

He wiped the tears away again, but they kept coming, dripping from his fingers onto the floor.

"What have they done to you?" He whispered, wrapping his arms around her.

Despite the heat Rachel leant into the comfort, let herself be held. Wished she had an answer.

"You know what I told you. When that Ratman talked about you like you were nothing?" Rachel did remember, so she murmured yes. He had said if they tried to kill her again, to hurt her, he would protect her, kill them.

Rachel had sworn to herself to do the same for him.

"I meant it." It was a miniscule reassurance. What were the two of them compared to WICKED's might? But somehow it, and the pills, were enough for her to finally sleep.

* * *

When she woke Rachel knew that she had slept better than she had since the Glade at least. Those pills had worked some sort of magic on her.

She just hoped she'd never have to take them again.

The feeling from the day before had faded. Rachel prayed it didn't return.

She was still curled together with Aris, and had to wonder how he had managed to sleep with his back against the wall.

He woke as she moved, most of the others were eating a small breakfast and preparing to set off again.

When you were almost starving cold beans and meat mixture was a feast fit for a king.

When you weren't and it was the fifth meal of that in two days you'd almost rather not eat. Almost.

"If all you shanks listen up we're all gonna split up and look for Thomas, Teresa and Brenda. Be back here by midday, no one wants to be out in that sun." Harriet instructed, the leadership must have been returning to her and Minho from Jorge.

Rachel had almost forgotten Thomas and Teresa, the telepathy was still not working. It had to be WICKED. Damn them.

"C'mon, let's go." She told Aris, they went out into the city which was similar to the Maze in complexity of navigation. Only they didn't have a map.

They didn't find anything before time was up to return to the others.

Frypan and Jane had seen Thomas, Teresa and Brenda in an alley, accosted by three Cranks with a gun and forced into a building for some sort of party.

The Gladers and Jorge then started to plan a rescue-ambush type thing.

If it was a party there would be drink and drugs, and Cranks weren't the type to worry about their health so they would just have to wait a few hours until they were all wasted.

As expected getting around the Cranks wasn't hard at all. In fact it was easier than the most optimistic had suggested. They rounded up most of them in the main room, which stunk. Jorge, Newt and Harriet pointed knives at them. A few managed to slip past them but they judged it unimportant.

Minho went down into a cellar room and when he didn't run back up screaming that he'd been attacked Rachel followed, Aris came with her.

Their three missing friends had been duct taped to chairs in the basement. Brenda had been gagged, Minho still working to free her.

"Ya look like you've been through hell. We did try to contact you but it wouldn't work." Rachel smiled as she walked over to them.  
"You'd better tell us what you got up to later." Aris helped Teresa up, hugged her quickly. "Sounds like quite a story." 

Rachel helped Thomas and supported him as he swayed, they looked like they'd been drugged.

"Come on, don't want those prisoners upstairs thinking they can take us." Minho started towards the stairs, Brenda had already gone. 

The upstairs room stank even worse a second time. Thomas started asking about the man with the gun, who they hadn't captured, Newt was telling him not to worry about it.

Minho threatened the Cranks not to follow them and they all filed out. Everything seemed to be alright now.

"Hey!" Rachel turned to see a man with short blond hair. He was holding a gun.

Crap.

Before she knew what happened there was the bang of a gunshot. Why did she recognise the sound?

Thomas fell, clutching at his shoulder, and Rachel instantly realised what had happened, falling to her knees beside him.

Teresa and Aris had stopped him cracking his head on the concrete, looking utterly shocked.

She pulled a piece of cloth from her pack and pressed it to the wound, cursing. Aris was calling for the medis.

Somewhere the gun fired again, then the sound of metal clattering across cement and punching. Rachel didn't bother to look up to see what was going on.  
Blood soaked the cloth instantly and she removed it to get an idea of the damage. Thomas was staring at it too but Teresa noticed and moved his gaze away, telling him to focus on her instead.

The bullet was lodged deep in his flesh, but luckily hadn't got to any bones. She used her knife to cut away his shirt, but didn't know how to remove a bullet.

Teresa was commanding Thomas not to pass out but Rachel could tell that he would. Everyone was talking around them. Aris gave her another cloth. She looked at Thomas's face and saw that his consciousness was fading fast.

"I can get that sucker out of him." Jorge was saying. "But I'll need a fire." That made sense, cauterize the wound instantly.  
Other Gladers were talking about how they needed to leave the city immediately.

"All right, help me carry him." Aris was saying. Rachel and Teresa prepared to help, joined by Brenda. Rachel was going to have to try to figure her out.

They lifted him and he screamed, finally fainting.

They carried him to the end of the city, then Newt and Minho took over. Rachel had dried blood all over her arms and her muscles burnt from moving in such an awkward position.

When they stopped outside the city they lay Thomas down on the sand, Jorge was lighting a fire to remove the bullet. Thomas had been swimming in and out of consciousness for hours but he seemed utterly out of it now.

Rachel sat beside him, talking to Aris and Teresa, the main concern was infection when the bullet was out, but then they had to consider muscle damage, internal bleeding and tears to vessels so close to the heart.

Where had they gleaned so much medical knowledge? And why did her and Aris have so much more of it than Teresa?

They held Thomas down when Jorge used a hot knife to cut out the bullet, the medis stitching and bandaging the wound. There were only two of them left now, Rachel was quite sure they were Emme and Clint.

The bullet was out but Thomas didn't improve. Rachel spent almost all of her time talking to Aris and Teresa. Teresa hardly moved from Thomas's side so they usually talked there.

Harriet had mentioned blood poisoning, pointing out red lines around the wound, swelling and inflammation. Rachel knew she was right and the shoulder wasn't far from the heart or brain.

Harriet also told them about Ximena, a name Rachel had sometimes heard. A dead girl, the leader Harriet had replaced. Along with her partner Nick she had been attacked by a Griever but not Stung in the Maze.

Nick had died quickly, and they had thought Ximena would recover until they found she had an infection in her blood.

They had begged the Creators for antibiotics, but none had come, and she had spent weeks in agony before dying a few days before Rachel and Thomas had entered the Glade.

The Creators had sent antibiotics with them, knowing Ximena was already dead, a show of power.

Rachel just prayed that wouldn't happen to Thomas. If he did die it would be quick. Even if she had to make it quick.

The three of them talked about everything. Teresa told them about the odd party, how they had been drugged. Rachel and Aris told her about the day spent looking for them. The voices in Rachel's head and the breakdown they had caused her.

But she hadn't heard the voices since, and wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

They had nothing to treat the infection, only weak pain medications and some more of whatever pills Rachel had been given when she had had that weird breakdown.

Nothing they could do.

The next morning Rachel got another reminder of how utterly ridiculous her life was. Just after sunrise there was the sound of engines, but above them, an odd ship landing near their camp. Jorge shouted the word 'Berg' so that had to be what the things were called.

Two people got out, wearing one piece green plastic things with WICKED emblazoned across the chest. Wait. They were supposed to survive alone.

The people took Thomas onto the Berg and flew away before anyone could really do anything. However, something told Rachel that they were going to heal him, then likely bring him back. He must be incredibly important to whatever this was, important enough that they wouldn't let him die.

* * *

 **A/N: The Biology is complete! There will be a second part of this up soon.**


	13. Phase Three: The Others

**Beth:**

After exactly a week they came for her asking for Miss Elizabeth. They called them all by names like that now, Miss Harriet, Mr Newton, Beth rolled her eyes every time.

She had asked about Gally several times, but their responses seemed rehearsed:

'We are sorry _Miss Elizabeth_. At this time we are unable to answer any questions about Mr Galileo. You must wait until Phase Three is over." They wouldn't tell her how long that was going to take.

When they came for her, told her it was time for her Trial, Beth was terrified. She had seen how Minho shook, couldn't meet anyone's eyes, how Teresa and Aris had cried silently, that had to be linked to how Thomas and Rachel hadn't come back since the Berg landed.

"Miss Elizabeth, would you please come with me?" The older man looked like someone she shouldn't mess with but also like he didn't want to be doing this, it was said like a question, not a command.

"Yes, sure. Why?"

"It is time for your Phase Three Trial. Come on." He really didn't want to be doing this.

She followed him down the corridor, they might say it like there was a choice but there wouldn't be.

He led her down several corridors, to an office with _A.D. Janson_ on a plaque on the door.

Rat Man sat at the desk, typing at a laptop, he shut it when she entered. Her escort stood outside. No escape.

"Thank you for coming to see me Miss Elizabeth." His smile made her want to run away. "You understand this is your Phase Three Trial?" She was Beth, not _Miss Elizabeth_. She was a girl, not _Subject B6_. She was Keeper of the Builders not _The Repentant_. She was herself, not the girl they used like a puppet.

"Yes, Mr Janson." Play along, and maybe they won't hurt you too much. She knew she was being an idiot but what else was there to do.

The man clapped his hands.

"Marvellous. Come with me please." He stood and so did she.

Then she followed Janson down yet more corridors.

The room they arrived at was designated _Dark Isolation_ , and suddenly Beth couldn't take another step.

"Are you alright Miss Elizabeth" Rat Man said with fake sympathy.

"I can't. Don't make me." She could feel hysteria bubbling inside her, the memory of Gally's description of the child punishment that created their nyctophobia repeated in her mind.

"This is for the greater good Miss Elizabeth." Rat Man opened the door and shoved her forward before she could do anything.

It was darker than night, darker than death, the panic rose in Beth's chest.

Beth didn't know how long she lay there, curled into a ball.

It was two days before Rat Man returned, he actually offered her a hand up from the floor, but she didn't take it.

"Your Trial is complete Miss Elizabeth." She was led back to the dormitory she had left, utterly confused.

They had created her phobia, exploited it, and now they just let her go back to her friends. The confusion outweighed many other emotions, but soon it would be replaced with hatred.

* * *

 **Rachel:**

The light in the corner of the room blinked. They were watching her like a zoo animal but what could she do.

They had taken Thomas away when the Berg landed, saying the Flare had made him dangerous.

Then they took Rachel, Teresa and Aris away separately. Apparently, they had to test their 'level of deterioration'. What they had done to the other two Rachel didn't know, but they had locked her in this strange room.

She'd been here for two weeks, she guessed, but she could deal with that.

The voices were intolerable, and here there was no respite. Rachel knew they were controlling her, to increase her distress, always had been. She could have dealt with the voices if that was all.

 _The Trials were your fault. You killed everyone in that graveyard. You're going to die in this room._

She tried to scream, but it couldn't drown them out. She reached for Thomas, Aris, Teresa, but she was blocked off from them.

There was nothing to do but wait, so wait she did, for one more week.

* * *

 **Minho:**

They came for Minho after a few days, for his Trial. It won't take long, they said.

Everything they said was a lie so he prepared himself for a long absence from his friends.

He was led to a perfectly normal looking room, offered a chair, the only other thing in the room was a blackboard.

The man introduced himself as Lincoln, said he would only have to ask one question and proceeded to write names on the blackboard, going side to side.

 _Thomas_

 _Rachel_

 _Teresa_

 _Aris_

 _Harriet_

 _Newt_

 _Sonya_

 _Miyoko_

 _Brenda_

 _Beth_

An odd mix, and what was Brenda doing there?

"Now, we need to dissect these subjects' brains to discover the Cure for the Flare. You can choose one of them, but only one. That is your question."

How was he supposed to answer that? Miyoko and Newt in particular meant so much to him, and comparatively Brenda meant nothing, but for any of them to die and him to have known he could have saved them, to always live with that choice.

He couldn't do it, wouldn't.

"All. That's my answer. I'll save all of them." The man looked taken aback but not particularly surprised.

"Are you sure of that?"

"Damn right I'm sure. If you harm any of them…" Minho left the threat open, not quite knowing what to say, but he would kill them, do what they had done to his friends then double it.

"Alright then, you may go."

* * *

 **Aris and Teresa:**

They took Thomas and Rachel away when the Berg landed, saying they had the Flare. So of course Aris and Teresa protested, they knew full well they couldn't have the Flare, they were immune.

The guards forced them away, made them accompany the rest of the Gladers back to dormitories.

It was three days before people were taken away for their individual Phase Three Trials. There had never been a Phase Three, there was never even supposed to be a Phase Two.

Some returned after minutes, others hours or even days, some didn't come back.

Janson himself came for Teresa and Aris, of course he did.

He took them to a room of monitors, their old workstation, but now there were two chairs each in front of a screen, and they were blank.

"Please sit." How did the man always manage to be so consistently creepy?

As always, there was nothing to do but obey. Obey and the Trials will be your only punishment. Obey and we won't kill Rachel and Thomas. Obey, obey, obey, never any choice.

Rat Man flicked on the screens, they showed two identical blinding white rooms instead of the Maze.

On the screen in front of Teresa, Thomas banged on a padded door, screaming.

On the other Rachel lay on the floor, utterly defeated.

So this was their friends' Trial, and theirs was to watch their suffering.

To watch for an entire day, Rat Man stood behind them the whole time, smiling.

* * *

 **Sonya:**

She was taken to a room containing only a chair and screen, everything else perfectly white and uniform.

When the screen turned on it showed the worst day of her life:

Newt leaving the Glade, climbing the Maze wall, jumping off, breaking his leg.

Over and over again.

* * *

 **Newt:**

They never came for him, but the terror was always present, especially when Newt watched others come back from their Trials.

Minho couldn't look anyone in the eyes, Beth was shaking, Harriet threw herself onto her bunk and cried. Some never returned.

Every day Newt considered what would be his Trial, his torture. Eventually they came for Sonya in the morning, brought her back just before lights out. She curled into herself, quietly weeping. She wouldn't tell him what they had done to her and the terror only grew.

That terror was his Trial, and it was one of the most cruel.

* * *

 **Harriet:**

They showed her every single death she had ever seen, made her relive all the torture.

And just like when they happened she was powerless.

Watching with a silent scream when Alby killed George, for a moment she was thirteen again, the most scared she'd ever been.

Holding one end of the rope as Stephen lowered himself down the Box Hole, feeling half the weight disappear and hearing a whooshing sound. Pulling up half a body that covered her in blood.

Clutching at Ximena's hand as the light drained out of her eyes, knowing exactly what to do to stop the infection that was killing her but powerless against it.

Harriet could never stop it, she was helpless against WICKED's might, always had been.

Unable to react when Alby ran towards the Grievers, desperate to be their sacrifice with it all amounting to nothing.

On and on it went, every clip on the screen making Harriet become a younger, past version of herself for a few moments.

She left that room swearing never to be powerless against death again.

* * *

 **A/N: I know some of these are better than others but these were the ideas my mind would give me. I need to sleep.**


End file.
